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What Happens to my House and Vehicle in Bankruptcy?

If I declare bankruptcy will my house and vehicle be taken from me? I have a chattel loan/mortgage on a mobile home, secure line of credit, I have never been late on a payment. I also have a vehicle , I owe 30,000.00 on that, I have missed several payments on my vehicle loan. I need to declare bankruptcy I think to get rid of all my accumulated credit card debts sadly 🙁

One Response to “What Happens to my House and Vehicle in Bankruptcy?”

There is no reason that you can’t keep your house or car in a bankruptcy if the equity in each asset does not exceed the prescribed exemption amount and that you can maintain the ongoing loan payments.

In B.C. the exemptions are set under the Court Order Enforcement Act. They include $9,000 of equity in your principle residence ($12,000 for the greater Vancouver and Victoria areas) and $5,000 for one motor vehicle. If you have missed several payments on the vehicle loan you may already be in default so it may be up to the lender to allow you to continue with the existing financing. If you are not in default, the lenders are not permitted to cancel the loan arrangement just because of the bankruptcy. If the equity in the house or car exceeds the exemption amount by a small amount it may still be possible to keep the asset by paying the excess equity to your trustee prior to your discharge from bankruptcy.